We’ve posted previously on this blog about the signs people create to help others navigate unfamiliar situations.
Thus, as soon as I saw this beauty in a highway-side restroom, I started thinking about the picture I was going to take.
I vividly remember washing my hands and snickering to myself about the apparent complexity of the instructions, thinking, “what, are people getting trapped in here?”
A few seconds later, the timed light clicked off, and my attitude changed just as quickly as I found myself in darkness and completely unable to get the door open. Of course I hadn’t actually read the signs–just thought about them as “an example of . . . “
I tried in vain to undo the door by feel and intuition, and started imagining how much it would suck to spend the night trapped in a highway-side restroom. After a bit of worst-case-scenario fantasizing, I used the light from my cell phone to illuminate the signs, which indeed, contained instructions absolutely essential to getting the door open.
Leaving me with two questions:
- Who the hell designs a door that difficult to open?
- Should I have added “NO, REALLY—TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!!” to the signs?
I found the whole experience amusing, but it really is kind of crazy that a public restroom is trapping people on the side of Highway 84.
Tags: bathroom, instructions, restroom, sign, workaround
grow your business. You do want plenty of customers, don’t you? Keep things in good repair, and be accessible to all so you won’t need “Hey dummy” signage. Aggravating your customers is not best business practice. Hat tip to Steve for anothergreat example of restroom signage,and to Amy for a lively discussion of professional life and the potty. How could I say no to putting up my signage post, when the signs were written in the ether? Seen any good ones in your town? Wallet-sized or wall-sized, what does a sign have to do
Pingback by Go Where Your VisionPoints :: Maximum Customer Experience Blog 07.11.08 @ 12:14 amI have tears running down my face…I choked on my cup of tea. This is th funniest post oh my god.
I actually was kind of ok, he takes pictures of signs people make. Not even beginning to think of there being some issue. No really…I can’t type any more in this comment because I am giggling like a school girl…
Comment by Candy Minx 07.02.08 @ 5:00 am
[...] Funny Read this……especially if you’re on a road trip… Posted by Candy Minx at 09:01 [...]
Pingback by The Gnostic World of Candy Minx: Funny 07.02.08 @ 11:27 ammy colleague got locked in his own toilet when he moved in to his flat in london on the first day – obviously the mechanic who installed the door lock did not check if it worked from inside. he didnt have a phone with him so he had to break the door knob eventually…. (a warm welcome to london!)
thanks for the article – i am really happy to find someone sharing my interest!
Comment by jabberer 07.02.08 @ 2:42 pm[...] found a toilet flusher that comes with a memo, I investigate the bathroom for Core77, and Dan gets trapped in the [...]
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